Sunday, December 14, 2014

To answer my own question, it literally flew by ! Wow. I am glad to see it go but not so fast. Geesh...............At least I was able to accomplish some things. That's always good. lol ! Even came up with a few new ideas. One concerning making beads but that will have to wait til I get back to the torch. :) Maybe today for a bit ? :)

The past week also included a try out with some new beads and Kumihimo. Did not work out like I thought it would so it came apart. The really frustrating thing about that - I was done with the piece - or so I thought and found it was too short on one end. Drats. Nope, could not of added any lampwork beads to one end either cause it was a necklace with a focal. Oh well, the new beads will be used another day in another piece.

One of the Kumihimo facebook groups I belong to had a reveal of the challenge they had going. It's still going on in fact. No prizes or winners, just a reveal of what one has accomplished. I participated in that challenge and made 3 braids and 3 bracelets pictured below. It really was alot of fun figuring out what to make and what to use. I hope there's another challenge soon. One big reason I made so many pieces is I needed to re-stock my Etsy shop. lol !

I did manage to learn a few things as well but will have to wait to reveal those things once I actually make some pieces.

The braids are as follows left to right: square braid done rayon satin cords, flat braid again all rayon satin cord and another flat braid done in hand dyed satin cord and a sparkly yarn. All going in my Etsy shop this week. All are long enough to use in your Handfasting ceremony ! :) I have to say, I could make braids on my Marudai all day long, every day ! I love working on it ! Moreso than using the foam disk.

All of the bracelets are made with magatama beads and the top left one also has seed beads in it. The blue and black one and the pink and black one will be in my Etsy shop today.

The photo below is the photo of the colors we needed to incorporate into our pieces. I put the bracelets on the photo to show how they matched up. The blue beads are not the exact shade of blue in the photo, but close. Oh well.............:)

Thanks for coming by. I hope you come back again next week. :) I hope everyone is staying safe and enjoying this holiday season.

Please come by my Facebook page where I sell lampwork beads made by other artists. These are beads I've had for a long time and have never used. They need new homes. This is the direct link. OPB'S FOR SALE You can purchase from that page.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Those lyrics just keep playing in my head instead of the original. There's only one word that makes it different and we all know what that is I'm sure. :) Isn't it the truth though ? Especially this time of year when everyone seems to have at least a zillion things to do ! And our list just keeps getting longer and longer. Just never enough time in the day or week or month..............I need to take a breather.

Still no torching for me. sigh. I have often wondered lately if I'll ever get back to my beloved torch and glass. I walk past it almost daily and glance over at it all and just sigh. ;( With my allergy issues not getting any better and so much else going on in our lives, I can ONLY look at it and maybe touch the glass occasionally. lol ! Oh well....maybe.... one.... day - soon. sniffle............

In the meantime, I can at least play with the Kumihimo braids. That, I can do while doing other things at the same time. Easy to do since what I am doing right now is portable. Using the Marudai is not portable and I have made a couple of braids using that but mainly it's been the foam disk lately. Yesterday, I made a necklace and was able to watch over fixing our dinner and the tv at the same time. Go figure. Never lost my place either. I have several methods of being careful about that. Anyone that knows how to make Kumihimo braids is familiar with those techniques. I'll show them to you here though just in case.

The braid I'm working on in the photo's is a typical 8 strand braid.

The easiest method for me is to place a little piece of a torn off business card under the first move. In the pic below it's at the top of the disk and it's black. I NEVER lose my place doing it that way and I always know that's where I start once again. Using this method, I always finish thru ALL four movements before stopping. I use this method with my Marudai ALWAYS.

The second method I rarely use myself but so many others do it this way and swear by it. I only use it in a pinch, like if the phone rings and I need to stop quickly. It does show, in an obvious way, where you left off and where you need to begin again. At the top in this photo it shows three of the cords. The cord in slot 28 was the last move and the one that you need to start with again. That cord is then moved to slot 10 at the bottom of the disk.

The last method is maybe a bit harder for some to use but for me it was a simple solution and one I used alot before using the torn off business card. If you look at the photo below, you'll see a steel rod. I'm just using that as a "pointer". If you look at where it's pointing at the cords, you will notice the position of the cords. There is a wide gap in between the green and pink cord where all the cords meet in the center. It's the same on the right with that pink and green cord as well. You will also notice the cords at the top ( yellow and orange colors) and bottom of the disk have no gap when meeting in the center. You will also see the cords at the bottom of the disk are "off center". All this info tells me I need to start with the cord on the bottom left. Believe me, once you get use to it, it's easy. It just sounds like alot. Yes the black business card piece is still in the picture. I forgot to take it out. lol !

Hopefully this is helpful to someone out there. Just a little tidbit of info that has worked for many who love working Kumihimo.

I was able to make a couple of pieces over this past week but no time to photo yet. Will get those next time.